Geoff told me once that Epitaph wanted singles on Common Existence and Thursday gave them none so the label wasn't happy. They then did No Devo and at the label listen they said "There's singles all over this thing!" which was not what they went in to record but it also got absolutely no push from Epitaph as I recall Geoff saying singles didn't matter to them by that point. By this point, of course, they had been burned by three labels, even if things thawed out a bit by then with Victory. They never had a good home other than during WATT on Island, oddly enough, because their A&R guy was still in his role and it got a good push. He was promoted after WATT so they and other bands Island signed from this wave floundered while at the same time Fall Out Boy was the top of the next wave.
"all the bands we really respected at the time held themselves as being too cool to be playing with a band like Thursday" First thing that comes to mind is the way French screamo band Daïtro turned down their offer to open for them. When asked about their refusal in an interview at the time, I remember them lumping Thursday with the wider mainstream emo scene in a manner that came out way harsher and pretentious than intended, and peeps on the forums I visited back then didn't have a favorable opinion on Thursday for some reason either so the comments were even worse. Odd time. That band was latter revealed to have been misquoted and I think punknews and the likes retracted their articles about it afterwards, as I can barely find anything about it anymore. Can def understand how Geoff must've been hurt by something of the sort. Always found it cool to see him/the band stay on the pulse regarding the underground scene and look out for other bands etc.
It's funny because I remember thinking at the time that Epitaph was the perfect home for them so it's interesting to learn that even they didn't understand Thursday. Thank you for sharing that! It definitely seems like them doing things on their own is the perfect situation for them and they seem very at peace as a band right now.
I regret selling my copy of CE on vinyl that I bought for 15 bucks on Discogs in 2016. Would never see that again.
I also want more CE in the setlists but it’s insane to me that the songs that do make it to lists aren’t last call/dark mountain/subway funeral. Those 3 are just as good and single-worthy as any other trio in their discog and it has always baffled me that they’re not 3 of the band’s biggest songs.
1. Autumn Leaves Revisited 2. You Were the Cancer 3. Streaks in the Sky That's it. That's the Top 3 Thursday songs of all-time.
I know we're quickly arriving at "Common Existence good" (which is true) but I gotta throw out Unintended Long Term Effects as a top tier CE pick.
You Were the Cancer Resuscitation of a Dead Man Beyond the Visible Spectrum Friends in the Armed Forces Love Has Led Us Astray Last Call As He Climbed the Dark Mountain Circuits of Fever Subway Funeral Unintended Long Term Effects Time’s Arrow
I’ve never gotten the hype for YWTC over the 3 I initially mentioned, to which I’d also add LHLUA as the top 4. Those always seemed like the most accessible 4.
An Absurd and Unrealistic Dream of Peace is the one for me. My favorite song from CE and Thursday / Envy.